Whaddon Road victory marks the start of a new era

Without a win or even a goal to their name ahead of their trip down to Cheltenham last weekend, even the most optimistic of City fans couldn't have been confident of us taking the three points from Whaddon Road, but City boss Stuart McCall surprised everyone by naming a youthful side that justified his decision only minutes into the match.

James O'Brien, resitricted to substitute appearances in the fixtures so far, scored on his first start and Gareth Evans, Steve Williams and James Hanson were also on the scoresheet in a 5-4 thriller.

McCall made the bold decision to drop his captain Peter Thorne along with Chris Brandon, and responded to calls from the fans to move James Hanson from the left wing upfront, where his aerial ability could offer a threat to the home side. With the directors watching on from the stands, McCall's re-think on team selection may have been one last throw of the dice, but it was the type of move us fans were crying out for at the back end of last season, when the journeymen failed to inspire, and it may have just kept him his job.

The shaky defensive performance aside, it was a very pleasing win and for me, signified a real turning point in Stuart McCall's managerial career.

In my very first blog, outlining my expectations for the season, I said that the influx of young players this season could spark a revival in the clubs fortunes and I think that is what we saw on Saturday. Both Williams and Hanson have settled in well as they begin their professional careers, and Evans has endeared himself to the fans with a number of hard-working and committed displays. It is inevitable that these young lads will make mistakes from time to time and there will be times when they get shown up by their inexperience, but these players are the way forward for City under McCall - whether finances have forced us down this route or not.

If you were to list the good and bad things Stuart has done in his time as City manager then the most glaring positive is his ability to lure players into the club with what Mark Lawn described as "an infectious enthusiasm". Getting the most of the big name signings like Paul McLaren, Graeme Lee and Michael Boulding has proven beyond him, but with the younger players, a different story has often been told. Scott Loach, Nicky Law and Dean Furman and the three most striking examples of youngsters that have come to Valley Parade looking a bit green and in need of first team football, but by the time they have left they have looked rejuvenated players for their experience at City. Loach went on to play for England under 21's when back at Watford and both Law and Furman were widely coveted in the summer when looking for their next move.

There are also the examples of Luke O'Brien and, to some degree, Joe Colbeck, who have won player of the year awards under McCall and become first team regulars. With Colbeck, I say, to some degree, because he has only played well upon returning from a loan spell at Darlington and injuries hampered his progression last season, but he may have done enough to earn a move to Oldham in the not so distant future and that would earn City a transfer fee or, at worst, a tribunal.

In light of the speculation surrounding Colbeck's future it is pleasing to see that the club have targeted Scott Neilson from Cambridge City as a possible replacement, rather that winding back to last season when they would have taken someone like Steve Jones on loan or handed a week-to-week deal to someone like Keith Gillespie. Neilson has been earning rave reviews for his performances for Cambridge and has attaracted interest from several league clubs, earning himself a trial at Norwich and Derby recently. Like Williams and Hanson, he will not be the finished article, but he is likely to play with the right attitude and convince the boss that he does have what it takes to make a league footballer. Brentford were one team that adopted a similar approach last season and were rewarded when they won the title, and even if promotion is missed out on this season, City are at least investing in players that have potential value years down the line.

The main reason responsible for City's financial troubles of the last decade was that they paid over-the-top wages to players that had no re-sale value. The likes of Ashley Ward and Benito Carbone were hard to move on once City became relegated and even in the pre-season just gone, it took quite a bit of time to move on McLaren and Lee and convince the likes of Boulding and Thorne to take pay-cuts - delaying rebuilding for the season ahead. With young lads, likely to be paid only a few hundred quid a week, players are easily expendible if money becomes an issue and we need to cut back.

Whether the deal for Neilson goes through or not remains to be seen but at the time of writing City have agreed a fee for the winger and fingers crossed he arrives in time to face Torquay on Saturday.

All the side appears to be lacking now is a proper goalkeeper to organise the backline, but we are only four games into the season and if youth does turn out to be the way forward, at least McCall has stumbled across it at such an early stage of the season.